


The Girl-Who-Became-Harry-Potter

by esm3rald



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Canon, Blood Magic, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Female Harry, Female Harry Potter, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Lucius Malfoy is married so maybe cheating?, Lucius is going to divorce his wife eventually though, Magically Powerful Harry Potter, Manipulative Harry, Manipulative Harry Potter, Morally Grey Harry Potter, Nico's staff Runaways inspired, Older Man/Younger Woman, Original Female Character as Female Harry Potter - Freeform, Parselmagic, Parselmouth Harry Potter, Powerful Harry, Powerful Harry Potter, Romance, Self-Insert, Slytherin Harry Potter, Smart Harry, Smart Harry Potter, Sort Of, Underage Sex, Wandless Magic, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-10
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-07-29 05:35:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16257728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/esm3rald/pseuds/esm3rald
Summary: Harriet is an orphan who has lived all her life in the foster system. Her only respite during childhood has been reading the 'HP' books. One day, while reading once again 'The Philosopher's Stone', she's struck by lightning. Instead of dying, she appears inside the cupboard under the stairs looking like a seven-year-old and with a familiar lightning bolt shaped scar on her forehead. FemHarry(OC)/Lucius eventually.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is something that I had in mind for a while but only today I decided to write it. I love writing about SI-fiction/OC, so I decided to try my hand at one with Harry Potter. In this story – like the title suggests –, the OC will take Harry Potter's place but she will have all the knowledge of the seven books so she will go out of her way to change things and make her life better compared to the one Harry has in the books, and she will obviously try to stop some people from dying.
> 
> Okay, if you've read my other story 'The Replacement', this one may seem similar. However, Harriet won't sleep with as many people as Hope here or be so blatant of a flirt (however she will still flirt, just more subtly). Though she still will have her number of relationships. This story's main pairing is FemHarry(OC)/Lucius. If you're not okay with it, don't read it, simple as that, because I'm not changing it. My story, my choice. Though nothing will happen between them until she's 15 at least. Also, she will have a relationship with Terence Higgs (who in this story is in the same year as Adrian Pucey (first year at Hogwarts 1989/1990)) during her third year and one with Cedric Diggory during her fourth year and probably during her fifth year as well. If you're not okay with underage sex, once again this is not the story for you. The OC in Harry's place is technically 17/18, at least mentally, so it's not completely underage.
> 
> Also, this FemHarry(OC) will be very different from Harry. First of all she won't be an innocent, naive virgin; she will be aware of how she looks like and she will use her looks and the promise of sex to her advantage. She will be sorted into slytherin and she will embody all the characteristics of this house: cunning, resourceful, ambitious, intent on self-preservation. (Though that doesn't mean she's a coward because she won't be. She just won't be a rash Gryffindor, jumping into danger without thinking about the consequences. In fact, she will plan ten steps ahead most of the time.). For example, the only reason she will be interested in killing Voldemort is because she knows that Voldemort will never stop coming after her and trying to kill her because of the prophecy, not because it's the right thing to do because Voldemort is a mass-murdering psychopath that killed her parents and definitely not to save the Wizarding World. She also won't have any qualms about using and manipulating people, without caring about their feelings (that doesn't mean she's a sociopath devoid of emotions though). She will also be much more powerful and smart than Harry is in Canon, just because I like the idea of Harry or FemHarry being really an equal to Voldemort (and since Voldemort was a magical prodigy, I don't see why Harry or FemHarry isn't).
> 
> Hope you like it, tell me what you think!
> 
> BTW, I imagine my OC as Danielle Campbell but with emerald green eyes and more curvaceous in the chest department(like Sophie Mudd).

**Prologue**

_31st July 2018_

Harriet really hated her name. That was why she had started insisting on people calling her Harry. The name Harriet reminded her of posh families with spoiled kids who whined and got everything handed out to them on a silver platter. It simply wasn't her. It was the furthest thing from who she was she could think of.

Because, you see, Harry was an orphan who had skipped from foster family to foster home all seventeen and half years of her life. Right now were the summer holidays after her last year of college and she was sitting against a tree at the park near the foster home she had ended up in after the last failed family experience that had lasted three months. She was getting old now and the chance of her finding a family was slimmer that it had ever been. Not that it really mattered. She would start University in the fall and since she had won a scholarship that covered tuition and home fees, she would leave the foster home soon and finally live her life like she wanted it. Finally her efforts had been paid off and she was enjoying the free time she had while it lasted.

Enjoying her free time meant doing the thing she loved the most in the world. Reading. Maybe it was a lame pursuit but she didn't care. She wasn't exactly a people person; she had always found it difficult to make friends, not because she was shy exactly, it was more the fact that she couldn't relate to most of the people her age. She didn't love partying or drinking, or loud music and staying up all night dancing at a club. She was the quiet type, you could say, the one who simply love to stay in and spend her Saturday night reading or watching television.

Her favourite book, since she was little, or maybe it would be better to say, her favourite saga, was definitely the Harry Potter books (that was another reason why she wanted to be called Harry). And that was what she was doing now, reading a Harry Potter book, specifically 'The Philosopher's Stone'. She had lost count of how many times she had read the books and yet every time, it was like the first time, exciting and mysterious. She loved everything about it, even the things she didn't agree on or the characters she despised. Because, let's face it, there were so many wrong things with the Wizarding World that it was impossible not to grind your teeth and scream at the pages in front of you. But all faded into the background when you thought about the fact that those characters had magic. And magic was worth everything.

She just knew that Harry Potter himself would never give up magic for anything in the world. His life before finding out he had magic was simply awful, and though it didn't exactly become easier after, it certainly became better. It was like living in a black and white world and then magic comes around and suddenly everything is in colour. She would give everything to be able to wield magic, even face all the things Harry had to face during the seven books. It would all be worth it just to have that letter delivered to her and someone showing up at her door to tell her that she was going to Hogwarts. It would make up for all the times she had wished for some distant relative to take her away from her current life and tell her that she finally had a home. Unfortunately, no relative or anyone else really had ever shown up, nor any owl had ever brought her a letter. It was all just wishful thinking. And yet, she couldn't stop dreaming. Sure, her life was – maybe – finally going as she wanted it to but starting living meant giving up her dreams and she wasn't ready for that yet.

Suddenly, from nowhere, a loud thunder sounded and then rain begun to fall heavily over her head. She got up quickly, afraid of getting her book wet but it was too late, in a few seconds her and the book was drenched, her clothes sticking to her skin uncomfortably. She started to run to go back to the foster home to get shelter from the sudden thunderstorm when a bright light enveloped her and a pain like she had never felt before spread all over her body. She screamed for what felt like hours until she felt her eyelids getting heavy and soon after black surrounded her.

The lightning had struck, leaving a brown, burnt imprint on the ground but of Harriet there was no trace left. She had simply disappeared.


	2. Chapter 1

****

**Chapter 1**

_31_ _st_ _July 1987_

When Harry woke up, it was dark. She was lying on something not exactly soft but not hard ground either. She figured it was something from a very uncomfortable bed to a cot. Wherever she was, she couldn't see anything at all. She touched around in an effort to understand exactly where she was and found walls on all sides of her. The room she was in was extremely small, not even 6 feet long and 4 feet wide. Even the ceiling above her head was sloped and uncomfortably low. She sat up, being careful not to bash her head against the ceiling and started to move her hand above her head in an effort to find a source of light. Not long after she finally found a light bulb dangling from it and pulled the chain attached to it. In a moment, the space around her was surrounded by a feeble light.

Harry looked around herself wide-eyed when she realized exactly where she was. She was inside a cupboard. How did she end up inside a cupboard? The last thing she remembered was the fact that she was reading Harry Potter and then that it had started to rain. And then…what?

A second later the vivid memory of pain run through her mind. She had felt pain, unbearable pain for a moment that seemed to last an eternity and then darkness. But why the pain?

She remembered then, in a moment of perfect clarity, the light so blindingly white that she had closed her eyes, the screams leaving her mouth ringing through her head.

She had been struck by lightning.

Was she dead then? If she was dead then why was she in a cupboard of all places? Was it some kind of hell? For Harry Potter it certainly was.

She passed her hands over her hair in an effort to calm down and think rationally. She needed to figure out what was going and why she was there. And where 'there' was.

When the palm of her hand passed by chance against her forehead, she felt something that it was not supposed to be there. It was a part of skin that was slightly rougher. She traced it with her middle finger and realized that it was a scar. A scar that had the form of a lightning bolt.

"It's not possible. It's not possible. It's not possible." She chanted to herself in panic.

She tried to open the door next, hoping to get out and escape from the strange situation she was in but it was closed, locked from the outside. Just like the Dursleys used to do to Harry in the books, before he came to Hogwarts.

Maybe someone was pulling a prank on her. Maybe one of the guys from the foster home. Possible, she supposed, but that didn't explain the scar on her forehead.

She looked at her hands in desperation and realized they were much smaller than she remembered them. She wasn't exactly tall, she was petite in fact but last time she checked her hands were bigger. And now that she was actually paying attention, her legs were too. She was a lot shorter than she had been yesterday.

Was it yesterday? How long had passed since she had been hit by lightning? Was she in a coma? Dreaming some really messed-up dream?

Was it just a coincidence that she had been reading Harry Potter the last day she had been awake before finding herself here, wishing she had magic, and then she woke up to apparently being in a cupboard and with a lightning bolt scar on her forehead?

"No, no, no. I didn't mean it so literally. I didn't want to be Harry Potter! Who would want to be Harry Potter? His life is a nightmare! I mean, sure he has magic, but that's the only good thing about his life." Then, a thought struck her and she smiled without realizing it. "Oh my god! Does it mean I have magic?"

She shook her head, feeling stupid. "Okay, let's try not to get carried away. I'm sure there's a logical explanation for what's going on. Right? I mean, I can't really be Harry Potter. It's absurd. Things like that just don't happen. Though, I suppose, being struck by lightning and survive – possibly – doesn't often happen either."

While she was trying to calm down, she heard footsteps over her head. Someone was on the stairs and quickly reaching the place just outside the cupboard she was locked in. With her heart beating in her chest like a hammer on iron, she waited. She didn't have to wait long because a second later someone was pounding on the door and shouting with a strident voice "Girl, get up! It's time for breakfast!"

The voice was unfamiliar and yet somehow, it was exactly like she had imagined Petunia Dursley to sound like. And if it was really Petunia on the other side of that door, then she doubted the breakfast was for her.

She got up reluctantly when she heard the door unlocking and got out of the stiffening room. She looked around herself for a second, at the unfamiliar house, freakishly tidy and clean, all white with flowery wallpaper and marble tiles. Then she followed the woman – possibly aunt Petunia – to the kitchen.

"Hurry up girl and make breakfast!" The woman with a strangely long neck and pale blonde hair screamed at her.

"Yes, madam." Harry replied indifferently. She was used to this kind of people. She had met hundreds of them during the years. She knew that the best way to react was for her to do as she was told without protesting.

She started with the bacon and sausages, then the scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, buttered toast and finally the coffee. Fortunately, she had practiced during the time she had lived in the foster families. A lot of them expected her to make breakfast, often dinner as well and clean around the house.

She took two pieces of buttered toast for herself and a cup of coffee. Petunia glared at her but didn't say anything to protest.

"This is your list of chores for today. Go wash yourself up and then start."

"Yes, madam." She said again. She watched a huge man with moustaches and blonde hair entered the kitchen, a very fat boy of about six or seven years old, following him.

'Vernon and Dudley, I presume.' She thought with a grimace. She left the kitchen a moment later without saying anything, ignoring the glares directed in her direction and got up the stairs. She found the bathroom after a few mistakes and closed herself inside. She immediately looked at her reflection in the mirror and like she thought, she not only looked smaller but also younger, by ten years more or less. There were some differences too from how she had looked before. Her eyes had been brown for instance, but now they were emerald green while her hair was a shade or two darker and curlier. Her face was slightly fuller but also prettier, like all the wrong features in her face had been fixed somehow. Her nose, for example, had been slightly bigger and her mouth larger but her lips less full, her teeth not so white and straight.

She looked more beautiful now, at seven years old than she did when she had been sixteen.

It was yet another thing that proved, without any doubt, that she was somewhere much different from where she had been before. And somehow, the three people downstairs, so much similar to the descriptions in  _Harry Potter_ , finally convinced her that yes, she was at number four Privet Drive, and, from the looks of it, she was Harry Potter too, though a female version of him.

She showered quickly, not losing any more time and risking making the Dursleys mad and then she started her list of chores. She had to clean the house, mow the lawn, wash Vernon's car and a bunch of other things.

Many hours later, after a 'light' lunch, which consisted of ham and bread with one single glass of water, she cooked dinner, once again having something that consisted more of a snack than a real meal. Once she was again in the cupboard under the stairs, alone, she finally had the chance to think about everything that had happened and what she was supposed to do from that moment on.

If she really was in Harry Potter's place, that meant that she would receive her letter once she reached eleven and she would go to Hogwarts. While that sounded absolutely amazing, the other things that had happened to him were not and going to Hogwarts and joining the Wizarding World meant that she had Voldemort to worry about.

Fortunately, she had an advantage. She remembered everything that happened in the books and that meant that she could plan her moves very much in advance. She had no intention of following the script, so to say, and let so many people die. She could save a lot of people from dying needlessly like what had happened to Cedric, Sirius and Snape for example and get rid of Voldemort much sooner.

But first things first, she needed to know if she had magic now and, if she had, which seemed like a given – because otherwise why would she be there? – she needed to find a way to control it before going to Hogwarts. After all Tom Riddle was able to do it, and yes, he was a magical genius, but the fact that she knew that magic existed meant that maybe she could learn to access it before going to Hogwarts. Using magic without a wand would be a huge advantage that she could keep hidden until she had the need for it. Someone trying to hurt her would think that taking her wand from her would render her harmless but if she learned to use magic even without a wand, she would be able to defend herself and take them by surprise.

The problem was that she had no idea how to access her magic. Maybe she could try to find some esoteric books that people who believed in magic tended to look in. Some wicca books or something. Maybe some meditation techniques and some spells that could help her access her magic. And maybe some fantasy books could help her too, give her some ideas on where to start.

Unfortunately, she had no way to go to Diagon Alley, and anyway, it was too risky, people could recognize her and that would bring too much attention to her.

Being able to use magic would also mean being able to 'persuade' the Dursleys to give her an actual room instead of a cupboard in which to sleep and three meals a day. It would definitely improve her living situation a lot. She wasn't above using some intimidation techniques if it meant having a better life before going to Hogwarts.

She smiled to herself and closed her eyes, her mind full with plans and ideas for the days to come.


	3. Chapter 2

****

**Chapter 2**

_15_ _th_ _December 1987_

Harry closed her eyes and breath deeply in and out a few times. She felt her heart slowing down in her chest and a sense of peace enveloping her senses. She extended her hand in front of her and visualized with her mind's eye a tiny, warm light floating a few millimetres above her palm. Immediately she felt a warm tingle at the base of her stomach and warmth flowing through her veins. She opened her eyes and there it was, a small sphere of light just like she had envisioned, illuminating the small cupboard she was once again locked up in. Harry smiled, satisfied though very tired as well. It was annoying how exhausting it was, accessing her magic and manipulate it how she wanted it too. She knew that it was both because her body and therefore her magical core was still developing and also because without a wand, doing magic was extremely difficult.

The wand was a conductor of magical energy that made accessing magic much easier. Magical cores started to stabilize at eleven years old and then it usually took a few years (usually until the age of seventeen) to finish the process of development. Once you reached 17 years old, the core would stop growing. It was the reason why 17 was the age of majority in the Wizarding World. All witches and wizards finished developing physically, mentally and, of course, magically at 17 years of age. After that you would start to actually age but the bigger was your magical core and the slowest the process of ageing was. That was the reason why magical people had a longer life's span than muggles.

Before eleven years old it was usually impossible to control your magic because it was just too unpredictable (that was the reason for all the episodes of accidental magic) and the magical core was still very small. Then once you reach the age of eleven, magical people were forced to start using wands because it made it easier for magicals to access their magic but it became also a constraint because if your magical core, that was still developing, started to rely on the wand all the time, the moment you stop using that wand, you would be unable to access your magic at all.

That was the reason why most witches and wizards couldn't produce magic without a wand. And that was the reason why Tom Riddle could. He had started to learn how to control his magic before arriving at Hogwarts therefore, it was safe to assume, that he continued using wandless magic at school as well.

You would wonder why someone who had woken up in the world of Harry Potter just a few months ago, without any idea how and why she had ended up there in the first place, would know so much about magical cores and wandless magic now. Well, it was very simple. She had found a great book about it. She was aware of the fact that the book was probably illegal now (it had been published in 1567) but she didn't particularly care about that.

Harry remembered the day she had gone exploring around the neighbour and found a small bookstore, hoping to find some books about meditation and maybe some Wicca books or supernatural stuff. Instead, what she had found was much better.

She had realized immediately that that book wasn't like the others. She had found it in the supernatural section, near a book about 'psychic powers: how to access your innate abilities'. It was very thick and leather-bound, and obviously very old. In silver engravings over a dark red cover it read: 'Wandless Magic, is it possible? How to use magic without a wand' by Wallace Whilmore. A look at the first few pages and she had known that this was the real deal, that it had been written by someone from the Wizarding world.

That day, she had bought some books on meditation – that she figured would be useful anyway, maybe even for studying Occlumency one day – thanks to some money she had stolen from the Dursleys (in the homestay where she had grown up she had made it an art, learning how to steal things without getting caught) and she had hidden the book she really wanted under her shirt – the one who had belonged to Dudley once upon a time and that was huge on her (the book was too expensive and she didn't have enough money for it). When she had approached the counter, the man had looked at her a little suspiciously but didn't say anything. She had paid for those two books and left, breathing a sigh of relief all the while.

Since then, every free minute she had she spent it trying to access her inner magic. At first it had been difficult even just trying to feel her magical core. For more than two weeks she had tried, every day, without results. She had been really afraid that she had no magic after all. She had cried more than once about it but she had not given up. Finally, after long days of torment, she finally felt it: that ball of warm energy deep inside her. It had looked a little like an atom, with the small core at the centre and flying tendrils of magic swirling uncontrollably around it. It was beautiful. From there actually accessing the magic had been easier but still extremely tiring and even now, after months, it was still taxing.

But she was getting better, every day and soon she thought she would be able to do much more complicated things than simply summon a ball of light, as pretty as it was.

 _20_ _th_ _May 1988_

Harry looked intently at the spider climbing the wall in front of her and pointed her index finger at him. "Freeze!" she ordered in a whisper. She felt her magic coursing from her core to her finger and a second later a small, blue light appeared from the tip. The spider grew immobile. Harry squinted her eyes and tried to imagine the spider floating in the air. A second later the small spider was floating a few centimetres above her coat. Harry smiled and concentrated on making the spider doing some somersaults in the air. She felt the bang on her forehead slicked with sweat but she didn't stop. Soon the spider was spinning in the air like a spinning top. Harry breathed deeply and put her hand forward like to say stop. The spider stopped spinning in the air. Harry moved her two fingers in a forward gesture to push the spider back on the wall. The spider returned where it was and Harry finally pulled the magical tendrils back inside her body so the spider was once again in control of its own movements.

Harry gasped a little, her breaths coming short in her chest but she was elated. Finally, some real progress. She could already move objects with her mind – though, of course, the heavier they were and the more difficult it was to maintain her control over them – but this was the first time she was able to control the movements of a living thing. Even if it was simply a spider, she knew that with time she would be able to exert her will on other, more complex living beings. She felt a little bad for it, knowing that this type of magic was very similar to what the Imperius curse did but not enough to stop practicing.

Like she had figured out (and like the book explained) the more she practiced wandless magic and the easier it became. Of course, it was still very taxing but she was getting better, being able to keep using it for longer periods at a time. It was like a muscle, the more she exercised it and the more trained and stronger it became.

Harry was now completely sure that this book was illegal. She wouldn't be surprised to learn that there weren't many copies around anymore. Not only wandless magic was something that the wizarding world viewed as impossible – and therefore anyone who was capable of it was dangerous – but using magic without a wand meant not being bound by spells and therefore by the restrictions put on these spells. An example of this was what she just did. Controlling a living being was similar to the Imperius curse and that, of course, was illegal. However, she hadn't pronounced any spell, nor has she used any wand, nobody could say she had actually used the Imperius curse let alone prove that she did. It was absolutely brilliant – and terrifying – how much freedom she had with wandless magic. Not only that but, using wandless magic was probably a way to bypass the restriction put on underage wizards and witches about using their magic outside of school or in front of muggles because wandless magic didn't register through spells.

Harry knew that what she was doing was morally wrong but if there was one thing growing up in the foster system taught her was to always look out for herself because nobody would care enough about her to do it for her. For her survival she had only herself to rely on and if, to stay alive, she needed to break the law and make some questionably moral decisions, well the choice was easy. Voldemort didn't care about following the rules so neither would she. She knew that he would never stop trying to kill her because of that damn prophecy. She was the only one who had the power to kill him – always according to the prophecy – and therefore he would always consider her a threat. She had no other choice but to do anything in her power to stay alive. If she had to steal, learn dark magic, lie, use and control people, torture or even kill just to stay alive, well so be it.


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There it is, chapter 3! Next one is the Hogwarts' Letter. Hope you like this one!

****

**Chapter 3**

_5_ _th_ _June 1989_

Harry entered the dim shop without anyone noticing. The hood over her head hid her long, dark brown hair and part of her face. Luckily the man at the counter was rather old and would often seem like he was fighting back sleep.

Harry headed towards the back, where she knew they kept the books. It was a small antique store, cluttered with things in all of its surface. Harry had come here more than once and every time she would find a new book to steal. She had found a book on potions that was probably a few centuries old, one on occlumency, one on dark curses, one on wizarding traditions and one on ancient runes. It was amazing how easy it was to find wizarding books in the muggle world if one only knew where to look. The owner of the store would search for old books and then sell them in his shop, together with every other antique object he would find and he didn't care about finding out what these books were really about. At long as they were at least a century old, they would go in his shop.

That was, of course, all better for her. Since she couldn't go to Diagon Alley yet, because she wasn't supposed to know it even existed, she had at least a way to study and prepare herself for the moment when she would actually join the wizarding world.

Thanks to the book about occlumency, she had made great progress in that area. The book explained how to build a kind of mental palace where to organize your memories and then there were some suggestions on how to protect those memories. It was nothing like what Snape had 'taught' Harry in the books and she wondered if Snape hadn't been following Dumbledore's orders once again. Maybe Dumbledore actually expected Harry to fail, maybe he wanted Harry to fail, to be more susceptible to Voldemort's influence in his mind. After all, the more Harry 'practiced' and the less blocked his mind really was. In fact, it seemed to have the opposite effect, those occlumency lessons had left his mind more vulnerable to intrusions.

Harriet figured it didn't really matter at the moment. She was not going to let Dumbledore manipulate her, or anyone else. She was going to kill Voldemort, but simply because of self-preservation, and she was going to do it on her own terms. She was not going to be a sacrificial lamb. In fact, she had every intention of finding a way to remove the horcrux in her scar somehow without having to die. There had to be a way, she refused to believe that she had to sacrifice herself just because Voldemort had his soul so fractured that he lost a piece of himself inside her. And Ew! said like that, it really sounded a little too sexual for comfort. Sure, Tom Riddle had been hot but Voldemort? Snake-face, noseless people weren't really her type.

Anyway, back to the point, Harry was making great progress in Occlumency but of course, she didn't know how effective her barriers were against mental intrusions because nobody had actually tried to enter her mind. Still, as long as she avoided direct eye-contact with both Dumbledore and Snape, she would be fine. In fact, it was better if neither of them knew she could do occlumency.

Regarding the other books, the book in potions listed many advanced potions which she couldn't try without its ingredients; still, she had read it anyway because this book actually explained in detail why these potions needed these specific ingredients. In fact, it listed the properties of every ingredient used and also why you needed to chop that certain ingredient instead of dicing it, or why you needed to mince that other ingredient instead of slicing it.

The book on ancient runes was very useful as well since it was a beginner's introduction to this subject. The one on wizarding traditions she knew would become really useful in the future, when it would come the time for her to make 'friends' in slytherin house. And talking about slytherin, she knew without a doubt that she would end up there. She wasn't loyal, except to herself, so Hufflepuff was out of the question, she didn't know if she was brave exactly, but she knew she didn't jump headfirst into danger like gryffindors did, and while she was rather smart, she wasn't studious unless those subjects were useful to her or they interested her. Sure, she had every intention of studying as much as she could while at Hogwarts but it was because she knew that knowledge meant power when it came to magic. She was ambitious, she cared about her own self-preservation, she didn't care about breaking the rules, oh, and she spoke parseltongue, what other house would fit her except Slytherin?

Harry shook her head, realizing that she had been lost in thoughts for long minutes while she was browsing the shelves for new books. This time it didn't look like there was anything that came from the wizarding world. Harry sighed in disappointment. She would try the small bookstore where she had first found the book on wandless magic. Maybe they had something there. Maybe she would get lucky again.

She turned her back on the shelves, intent on leaving the store when something shining at the corner of her eye caught her attention. There was a snake on display on a small pedestal, inside a glass case, a cobra to be exact. Well, it was a necklace in the shape of a cobra, made of silver but with emerald green eyes. Though it wasn't like any necklace she had ever seen before. It looked so life-like, down to the smallest detail that she wouldn't be surprised if the necklace would actually come alive.

Harry stopped her walk towards the exit door, undecided. She didn't need a necklace and she was sure that someone like the owner would notice if something like that would go missing, as opposed to a few dusty books which, she was pretty sure, he had no idea the value of.

She should just walk away. It was one thing stealing books that she actually needed but this…what was the point of stealing a necklace, as pretty as it was? And yet, there was something about it that was calling to her somehow. Like she _had_ to have it.

"Oh, I must be crazy!" Harry whispered to herself, shook her head and groaned. But the decision was already made. She only hoped she wouldn't get caught for it.

She looked behind her, made sure no one was anywhere near her. The shop was mostly deserted as it often was.

Harry took a deep breath and then concentrated on unlocking the glass case. She felt the usual sensation of warmth inside her, warmth that reached the tips of her fingers. Then, a second later, she heard a click and the glass case opened. She took a last look behind her and then, quick as lightning, she took the necklace from its pedestal and put it around her neck. It looked like she had a small snake coiled around her neck.

Quickly she hid the necklace as much as she could underneath the t-shirt and hoodie she was wearing. Then she made her way out of the shop, slowly, so not to gather suspicions. As soon as she was out of the door she started running and she didn't stop until she was back in Privet Drive number 4.

 _10_ _th_ _August 1990_

Harry had known, the moment she had seen it, that that necklace was special and yet, she had no idea how much.

When Harry had been younger, beside Harry Potter, she had been a fan of Marvel comics. One of those comics had been the 'Runaways'. Being a fan of all things magic, she had loved Nico's staff. Well, she had found out that her snake necklace worked in a similar way.

As it turned out, the snake was alive in some way. Or, at least sentient enough that it could understand her when she spoke to it. She hadn't meant to speak in parseltongue but, like Harry said in the books, she had started speaking it without realizing it.

It was the same night she had stolen it. She had been looking at it, inside her cupboard, playing a little with it while it was still around her neck when it had come alive. All it took was her saying: "so pretty!" and there it was, moving around her neck. She had stopped herself from screaming just barely, knowing that the Dursleys would come investigate the noise. Still, it had been a shock, even knowing all that she did about magic.

" _A ssspeaker…" the snake necklace had said, its small tongue tasting the air. "How long I've waited for sssomeone like you."_

" _What?" Harry had said, completely confused. "You mean, a parselmouth?"_

" _Yesss. Sssomeone worthy of the power I posssesss. Sssomeone who would be able to wield it."_

" _What do you mean? What are you?"_

" _My name is Uraeusss. I wasss created thousssandsss of yearsss ago. Many in hissstoriesss had wanted to possssessss me but only few were dessserving of me."_

_Harry had frowned. That explanation didn't clarify much. One thing was certain though, that was a magical necklace._

Uraeus had explained then that his master, the one who had created him, had infused him with the power to call upon the elements, and that those capable of speaking the snake tongue would be able to call upon this power through him.

" _Does this mean that anyone who can speak parseltongue can use these powers?" Harry had asked, worried that Voldemort would have even more power at his disposal thanks to her._

" _No, missstressss. I belong to you now and until you die, I will continue to belong to you."_

_That was somewhat a relief, though if Voldemort managed to kill her, nobody would stop him from taking this necklace and use it as he saw fit. Still, there was no point in worrying about it now._

" _Uhm, that is good to know." Harry had said. "And if I wanted to access these powers, how would I go about it?"_

" _An offering isss required. You can call upon me through the sssnake tongue and I will wake up. And then, by ssspilling your blood, I will anssswer to your wissshesss."_

" _Right. So, I need to spill blood? Do you mean, I would have to cut myself?" Harry grimaced a little. "And how much blood is required exactly?"_

" _No. I will be the one to take the blood required out of you. And how much blood isss required dependsss on what you want to accomplish. The more powerful the ssspell, the more blood you will need."_

" _That sounds rather dangerous. What if I lose too much blood?"_

" _There isss alwaysss a price to pay for power."_

_Harry nodded, uncertain if the risk was worth the reward. "I can use wandless magic though, a little, why would I need you? No offense."_

" _With me you can sssummon earthquakesss and burn entire foressstsss, dessstroy buildingsss and control the weather, create hurricanesss and make volcanosss erupt. There isss no limit to what you can do because the powersss you will sssummon will not be connected to your magical core."_

" _That sounds…rather scary. Why would I want to cause so much destruction?"_

" _That isss not all that you can do. You will have the powersss of the elementsss in your handsss. It is up to you to decide how you will ussse them."_

" _Okay. What if I wanted to turn metals into gold?" Harry said, thinking about the philosopher's stone._

" _You could. You could alssso change ssstones and cryssstalsss into diamondsss or any other preciousss gemsss. You could be rich."_

_Harry knew that she had money from her parents. But those money were tightly bound to the wizarding world. And Harry had plans. In fact, she had no intention of returning to the Dursleys after her first year at Hogwarts – especially because she knew that the wards around Privet Drive, erected by Dumbledore, detected all kind of magic, even wandless magic, like the incident with Dobby in the books proved – but she knew that Dumbledore would force her to. For now, it was okay because all magic detected before Hogwarts would be considered accidental magic but she couldn't stay here after starting Hogwarts._

_There was no place in the Wizarding World she could stay that wouldn't immediately be reported to Dumbledore. Of course, there was Nocturne Alley but someone like her was in danger from death eaters and Voldemort's sympathizers there so all these places were out of the question. Sure, she could change her galleons into pounds but she knew that Dumbledore would keep tabs on her financial movements. There was a reason he was the one with her Gringotts key. It meant that he also controlled her vault. Not that she believed he would take money out of it but he would certainly control what she would do with them._

_That left her with one alternative though, disappear into the muggle world. But to do that, she needed money. Muggle money. Money that Dumbledore wouldn't know existed._

_Having gold and gems that she could sell would definitely solve that problem. If the price to pay was a few drops of blood, well, she could deal with that._

_After all, as powerful as wandless magic was, it was also exhausting and she knew that, it would take a lot out of her._

" _All right then. What do I have to do?"_

Uraeus had explained that he would reside 'under her skin' until call upon – a simple 'wake up' in parseltongue would do the trick – and then, once she would state what she wanted – always in parseltongue – he would bite her, taking the blood required for the spell.

Turned out that residing under her skin meant that he would look like a black tattoo on her spine. That, at least, meant that it would stay hidden, so that was good.

So, from that moment on, she had started to turn scraps of metal or stones or any other piece of various crystals she would find inside dumpsters and around on the streets, into gold and gems. There was a pawn shop a few blocks away from Privet Drive and though the owner had been a little suspicious at first, she had 'persuaded' him to take what she brought him. Since she couldn't keep all that cash at the Dursleys, she had opened a bank account, using the same mind trick she had used on the pawn shop owner, on the bank manager. She had also needed a little 'persuasion' on the other bank employees as well but once a month, she would go and deposit money. In one year, she had made more than 50 thousand pounds. Not bad at all, especially because Dumbledore, or anyone else, would have a hard time tracing it back to her.


End file.
